Our Team
When you work with SilkWeb Consulting and Development, you'll gain not only a world-class team but also a wealth of industry experience. Read about our leadership team and our top consultants, designers, and project managers.
Dr. Michael Shaw - President
Dr. Shaw earned his doctorate degree in Management and Organizational Leadership. He has developed numerous leadership and management oriented workshops throughout his career. Dr. Shaw began managing the SilkWeb team in 2006. Since then he has managed several large-scale curriculum projects for the nation's largest online university and provides consulting services to one of the top publishing companies in the United States. Dr. Shaw holds an adjunct faculty position at the University of Phoenix where he teaches undergraduate business students. Dr. Shaw's most recent publications include the following:
Schmidt, T. & Shaw, M. (2008). A new model for online doctoral course development with faculty quality assessment. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 4, 3, 69-80.
Shaw, M. (2008) Value-based profits: The link between values and turnover in call centers.
Shaw, M. & Silk, L. (2007). Designing innovative student-centered curriculum in e-learning. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 101.
Schmidt, T. & Shaw, M. (2007). A New model for online doctoral course development. IADIS, 1, 2, 228-235.
Laurel Silk, M.Ed. - Vice President
Laurel has managed e-learning initiatives at three leading universities in Arizona. She is a skilled facilitator working with corporate training departments to deliver instructor-led and web-based training workshops in a variety of areas. As an experienced instructional design expert she developed leadership focused doctoral programs in higher education, business, and nursing at one of the world's leading virtual universities. Laurel presented a workshop at the E-Learn conference in Quebec City in collaboration with Dr. Shaw. The workshop titled Developing Learner Centered Curriculum was well received by the e-Learning community. As vice president and co-founder of SilkWeb she oversees all instructional design projects, manages contract personnel, and is the lead instuctor for the Train-the-Trainer program. Laurel holds a Masters degree in Education with a focus on adult learning and instructional design and has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Arizona State University.
Dr. Thomas Schmidt - Online Instructor/SME
Dr. Schmidt is a subject matter expert specializing in technology and business. He is currently the Campus College Chairman for Information Systems and Technology for a leading University. Prior to this, he worked in several roles in the information technology industry around New York City, including as President of his own corporation servicing the IT industry, and as an Officer of Harvard University as an instructional technology specialist. He has previously taught classes at Fordham University and Iona College in Databases, Web Design and overall Information Technologies. His work for different financial firms has included Equity and Fixed Income analytics, and data warehouses and databases in MS SQL Server, Sybase, and flat-file systems. He earned a Doctor of Science degree from Tulane University in Computer Science, with a concentration in databases.
Maren Curtis, B.A. - International Consultant
Maren is an economic development consultant. Maren is fluent in English, German, Macedonian, and Italian. She has extensive international business experience having worked with organizations in Germany, Macedonia, Ecuador, Italy, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Bosnia. Maren works as both a consultant and a course writer for special projects. Her curriculum development expertise focuses on law and business administration. Maren holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with an emphasis in Energy Studies and has completed graduate level coursework in environmental management, biology, and chemistry.
Lisa Weinberger, M.Ed. - Project Manager/SEO Consultant
Lisa is a current member of NCTE and ASCD and has provided instructional design to PBS and NAF. Lisa's background includes over 15 years in the field of education and marketing. Lisa has experience in marketing of SMB's online and offline as well as using SEO techniques to brand and get exposure for her client's products and services through her company PearlyWrites, LLC the chosen Organic SEO provider for Wyndham Hotels. Lisa works as an independent project manager for SilkWeb overseeing the work of course writers and as an SEO Consultant and professional trainer of SilkWeb products. Lisa has a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing with a minor in Psychology, and a Master of Arts in Teaching, as well as teaching certifications from New Jersey and Florida. Before embarking on the journey as a full time writer, Lisa was a teacher and private tutor of English and Hebrew, and an English Professor.
Sharlene Jarosek, M.Ed. - Education Consultant
Sharlene has extensive experience in all facets of educational program management, team leading, consulting, and training. She has given focused state-wide trainings for educators and professionals on program management and assessments. Sharlene holds a Master of Education in Education Management, from University of La Verne, California; a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, from Ottawa University, Arizona; and an Associate of Arts in Art, from California. She is also a professionally trained artist, and studied at the Instituto Allende, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and the Art Institute in San Francisco, California. Sharlene recently completed a writing project for our largest education client on the topic of Government and Non-Profit Accounting.
Mirjam Neelen, M.A. - Instructional Designer
Mirjam has over 5 years of experience in the coaching and training field. Mirjam recently worked on a non-profit web design project for E-learning for Kids, a needs assessment for a language institute, and a 1-week instructor led training for Microsoft. She has coached children with a wide variety of neurological disorders, their parents and teachers to improve their interaction. Mirjam enjoys working with a variety of backgrounds and cultures, providing her with great flexibility in her communication styles. She also participated in several projects focusing on evaluation of structure policy and organizational processes as well as quality of speech therapy methods. Mirjam speaks Spanish and taught English in San Luis Potosí. Mirjam earned a Master of Arts in Dutch Language and Literature from University of Groningen in the Netherlands and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Therapy at the Hanzehogeschool Groningen in the Netherlands. At present, she is pursuing her Master of Science in Learning Technology Development while working as an instructional designer at SilkWeb. Mirjam is currently designing a 1-day instructor-led course in Customer Service.
Nancy Abenmoha - Instructional Designer/ Education Consultant
Nancy is a skilled consultant who has been creating and facilitating courses and workshops internationally for over 20 years. Her experience in needs assessment, curriculum development and the elaboration of teaching strategies include analysis, design, development and delivery to multi-cultural participants. Her previous projects have been in business, government, engineering and science related areas. Nancy has experience designing and developing training materials to assist American families in adapting to foreign cultures using cross-cultural education and crises management techniques. Her work in these areas has been instrumental in helping foreigners acclimate to their environments. Nancy is bilingual in French and English and was a Instructor at Institut Universitaire de Technologie in Toulouse, France. Her most recent activities include completion of a certificate in Adobe Captivate and university-level coursework in e-Learning and Instructional Systems Design. Nancy is currently developing a comprehensive online course titled Communication in the Workplace.
Jose Perez B.A. - Graphic Designer
Jose is a talented graphic designer with a unique and edgy style. He has developed web sites and marketing collateral for his clients. His professional portfolio includes marketing collateral and logo design as well. Jose recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Communication. Jose is currently working on redesigning one of SilkWeb's subsidiary sites and is designing new marketing collateral.
Alison Hardy, BSN, RN- Subject Matter Expert
Alison is a subject matter expert and specializes in developing curriculum in nursing, health services, administration, and science. Alison holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Grand Canyon University and has several years of professional experience in health services. As a nurse professional she specializes in neo-natal care where her experience and education prepared her to care for the special needs of newborns.
Wanted!
Are you a professional writer, instructional designer, or animator with experience in higher education? If so, we are interested in talking to you. Submit your resume through our Contact page.
